Klayman’s Persistence Won’t Get Judge Recused

WASHINGTON (CN) – Pending an appeal to have her recused, a federal judge today stayed the conspiracy case filed by the families of support staff for Navy SEAL Team Six killed in an Afghanistan terrorist attack. The families of Michael Strange, Patrick Hamburger and John Douangdara brought the action against Iran and Afghanistan, as well as the leaders of both countries and the Taliban and al-Qaida. Larry Klayman with Freedom Watch filed the action for the plaintiffs, and it soon fell on the docket of U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. While presiding over a different case involving Klayman back in 2011, Kollar-Kotelly scolded the lawyer for his “consistent pattern of engaging in dilatory tactics, his disobedience of court-ordered deadlines, and his disregard for the federal rules of civil procedure and the local rules of this court, coupled with the patent failure of the court’s use of lesser sanctions in the past to have any discernible effect on Klayman’s conduct in this litigation.” Kollar-Kotelly also ruled against a client of Klayman’s who brought a sexual harassment case against the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Citing “the interest of fairness,” the Strange and other families requested that Kollar-Kotelly transfer their case to a new judge. Kollar-Kotelly’s refused the motion in April, declined to reconsider and on Thursday rejected yet another motion to disqualify. She noted that Klayman also filed unsuccessful ethics and civil complaints against her. “Since there is no basis for the requested disqualification, granting plaintiffs’ motion would set a precedent that would permit judge shopping by litigants,” today’s opinion states. Kollar-Kotelly did, however, agree to stay the Strange case pending an appeal to the D.C. Circuit.